Step 12: Etching Revisited (October 24th edit)

Step 13: Results

So as my etching section has proved this didn't work perfectly for me the first time. Things like this never do, but as far as printer functions go ev...

SEE STEP 12 FOR NEW RESULTS AND AN ETCHING/PROJECT UPDATE!

Recently one of my focuses has been to find a way to make the PCB (Printed Circuit Board) creation process easier. I like being able to design something based on what I want in a circuit and just making it myself on the random weekend. While the toner transfer method has been my go to in the past it’s just not nearly as consistent as I would like it to be. The specific pressure of the iron and timing both make it a hit or miss approach. I’m not a fan of hit or miss I like to know something is going to work every time I try to do it. This sentiment got me exploring new ideas for PCB creation which is the topic of this project.

About a year and a half ago I found this webpage on modifying an Epson inkjet printer into a printer capable of printing on thicker materials such as copper clad board used by hobbyists such as myself to create custom circuit boards. As you'll notice that webpage is centered around an Epson C84 printer, but Epson printers are all somewhat similar so I decided to try this method on the C86 I had lying around the house.

Since I've been working on my own website (www.ryanpourcillie.com) I've documented everything about the project and thought it would be good to put it multiple places so hopefully numerous people can see it and try something new for themselves. I really tried to go into detail on everything I did in this process and the problems I had to troubleshoot because from looking around online there have been a few people who have done these modifications before, but no one really seems to have given a very good in-depth step by step build guide. Hopefully this Instructable can serve as just that.

So all that being said let's start with the tools and materials you'll need for this project:

Materials:
- Obviously you'll need some form of an Epson inkjet printer probably of the C80 family as those are the ones I have seen modifications to in the past.
- A sheet of aluminum or steel or some metal sheet (about 9 inches by 14.5 inches roughly)
- Approximately 4 feet of 1/4 inch bent (90 degree corner piece) aluminum rail
- Some type of brackets and screws to secure them with (I used 3, you'll see an image of them later on)
- Some 4 - 40 screws (I used 1/2 inch long ones)
- Nuts for said screws (I used about 16)
- A small piece of scrap plywood and some other random scraps of 2x4 or something of the sort
- Epoxy and/or hot glue
- The drivers for whichever printer and operating system you decide to use
- An ink kit from Inksupply.com (more details on this later)

Tools:
- A Dremel tool with grinding wheels to cut through metal
- Various screwdrivers
- Pliers or a socket wrench that fits the nuts or screws you'll be using
- A drill of some sort to attach the brackets
- A hot glue gun
- A heat gun

I haven't worked out a process to print a solder mask yet. I've tried simply printing the MISPRO ink over the board after etching, but it didn't stand up very well. Currently I'm experimenting with some glass paint called Pebeo Vitrea. The paint is heat set and from what I've seen on a few sites can produce a nice mask when applied properly. When I finish the laser cutter I'm building currently I hope to use the laser to cure or remove various type of coatings as an experimental mask.

Sir, may I ask if the Epson C80 family of printers is still available in the market? We are planning to use this idea of yours as our project but we're having a hard time searching for the printer. Is it possible to use other types of inkjet printer? Thanks for the reply.

I actually don't know if the printer is being produced any longer. If you're looking for a different printer the important thing is to get a printer that uses piezo printheads. Epson printers had this on some models last I checked, but I can't tell you exactly which ones do currently.

I don't feel like it was a waste of time for a few reasons. First this project really only took me a few hours over two weekends to get everything complete so probabaly 6 hours total. Second I already had the printer and a lot of the parts on hand so there really wasn't much if any cost. Third I would of had to build or buy an exposure box for the photo method anyway. And finally the process now that it's built is really as simple or perhaps simpler than the photosensitive boards. I don't have to expose or rinse the boards at any point. I just print, drop them in my etching tank and in 5 minutes I have pro level boards too. Everyone has their own preference and this ends up being mine.

From what I've seen online in various forums yellow seems to work the best so that's what I went with. I'm sure you can experiment though as I've seem magenta used before as well. Just need to make sure and get a thicker layer of ink on the board.

I can't tell you for sure if it would withstand the salt water and electricity. I had some issues with hydrogen peroxide and hydrochloric acid eating right through the ink, but ferric chloride didn't damage it. Those are really the only two etching methods I've tried thus far with the PCBs.

This depends on several factors the main three are (once perfect lines are produced) The under-etching of the edges Due to (1)Etch-ant type,(2)time exposed, and the (3) irregularity of the mixes composition, (usually overcome by running through a low volume all plastic water pump ) design circuit to the amount of current the copper has to take,Otherwise eat away to zero.

Currently with the Ethernet Arduino board that I've printed and etched the thinnest trace printed would be about the size of the 74HC08 surface mount chips leads. That is to say that they are approximately .3 to .4 mm wide roughly. I don't have an exact way to measure something this small at the moment, but from the datasheet for the 74HC08 I can estimate them at about that thickness.

As for the thinnest etched spaces on the board I have a few areas that are even thinner and I would estimate at about .1 to .2 mm wide roughly. I'd venture to say probably more around the .15mm area.

I know there are a lot of others out there using this setup too and maybe some of them are getting different results, but that's what I can tell you from my experience so far. I'm working on my own board design for another project currently so once I can that board all designed and ready to print I may be able to give you more measurements straight from Eagle.

Great write up, well written and covering all the bases. Excellent job.

I have been considering a very similar mod, but not had the time to attempt it yet. What I am considering is replacing the print head with a laser diode; which could then expose a presensitized board. This of course would require some new control boards/software - possibly Arduino based, but should be able to generate very high quality boards. First thoughts were of course just cutting the copper with the laser, but my guess on that would be a very powerful laser given the heat transfer properties of copper. Anyone ever tried either; or anyone want to take the idea that does have some time to work on it - feel free!

i had a question. I am working at a startup and we are making comic publications. We need to print rolls of size 4inch by 150 ft long! and this is on bible (thin paper). The question i had was, we cant afford these fancy large format printers which are able to do this. Neither can we outsource as the cost is too high per unit. We need to print these cheaply and with inexpensive equipment. Any ideas if it is possible to convert a normal printer into something which can print 150 feet long documents.

I'm not 100% sure how to approach the idea of using a laser printer truthfully. There's a lot to consider that complicates the process. While you may be able to do it I don't think it will prove to be nearly as simple as this modification was. The laser printer has a more complicated system with the fact that it uses toner and then as the name suggests has a laser which melts or sets the toner powder into an actual ink. If you do try to modify a laser printer let me know as I think it would be quite interesting, but I don't know how much help I can give you without directly having access to the printer and seeing the inner workings that need modification.

The laser only writes the image onto the drum. The photo conductive drum is charged with a positive charge. The laser writes onto the drum, where the laser hits, the drum becomes conductive and discharges the positive charge. Positively charged toner particles then stick to the uncharged parts of the drum. The paper is negativley charged and the toner transfers from the drum to the paper. The paper and toner go through heated rollers (like a laminator) and the plastic toner melts and fuses to the paper.

Two main problems in conversion are, The paper path is never straight, impossible to make it so without very major modifications. The copper on the PCB will not hold a static charge as it is conductive.

Though if anyone does do it I would be very interested in seeing it. :)

I haven't tried it myself, but I have a friend that uses his laser printer to print out the PCB drawing on parchment paper, then transfers it to the board by ironing it on. I've heard of others using regular paper the same way

That's the typical method of making homemade PCBs. My upgrade to this system was to make more intricate and more consistent boards. There are a lot of options out there though if you search Instructables for other methods.

I have been curious about the same thing actually. The short answer is I'm not sure.

The longer answer is it would depend on the construction of the printer and how easily you could "lift" it. Factor into that the different printhead system and whatever other mechanisms a laser printer might have and it could complicate the build. I don't really have access to a "junk" laser printer so I haven't been able to test this idea out. I'd need to take it apart and look at the specific printer to decide how to go about modifying it.

If you do decide to try it and are successful or find some helpful things out make sure to let me know as I would like to try that in the future.

Well done, very thorough instructable. Especially your experiments and results on etching.

I've been converting an Epson T21 but for various reasons haven't finished it yet (over 3 years !)

The T21 has the whole printing mechanisim and electronics on a vertical steel plate that is held by 2 screws to the base. I just need spacers under the screws to raise it, no cutting, no brackets. I was lucky on that part.

i was recently thinking about hacking a printer like this for a slightly different purpose, and i checked instructables to see if it was already done by someone else, this was the closest. my idea was to mount a lightscribe DVD burner laser on the printer head of a cheapish $50 printer (bought the DVD drive, not the printer yet) and link it up so that as well as depositing ink it could reduce graphite oxide film into graphene, on a glass or, (optimistically)- a cellulose acetate substrate for the purpose of making an active matrix pixel array for creating OLED displays (including the field effect transistors+capacitors for each pixel in the same process, using the semiconducting and conducting properties of the graphite oxide and graphene, respectively), the electroluminescent doped polymers could possibly be dissolved in acetone or perhaps a weaker solvent that wouldnt attack a printer cartridge too much, then printed over the transparent graphene electrodes, one for each subpixel in alternating formation according to the RGB dopants and corresponding subpixel.

the idea i had was having the printer rollers actually moving the entire printer along rack and pinion type rails on each side of the build surface, and i wasnt sure if the steppers would be powerful enough, got some heartier steppers around though, but different current ratings to most printer steppers so i'd have to make a breakout board to drive them if i had to use them for it. (which would be fairly straight-forward, i got a cnc lathe/mill and a UV LED PCB developing glass table)

anyway, what my question really is, would you know of how to mess with the printer driver program and/or circuitry to use it as a plotter as well, so it could laser reduce graphene oxide in continuous lines while changing from one axis to another instead of rastering? rastering would be fine for the deposition of the EL polymer but i think the graphene would have a more continuous molecular formation if it was reduced as a continuous trace.

apologies for lack of caps and the grammar, i are retard.

i would very much appreciate a reply if you have any information i might find useful to achieve this objective.

Is is just me, or does the final etched product seem rough around the edges for the copper pads and traces, doesn't look very clean in the pictures?If this is the case, would a better quality printer be the way to a better etch, or is it simply the "DIY"ness of it all that produces the 'rough' results?

The first boards I did while still testing the printer and trying to iron out the kinks do have rough edges on them yes.

As I got everything fixed and calibrated right though the boards got better. I have pictures of the better board I made in there a few places, but now that I know exactly how long to preheat the boards for and how to set the ink better and have a better etching tank the boards are coming out smooth.

I haven't had a chance to post anything new recently because it's been pretty cold outside and I haven't been able to etch boards yet. The new etching tank is nice, but the bubbling ferric chloride isn't something I like to use inside very much. I'm working on designing a few of my own boards currently and when I get a chance to etch them I plan on posting updated photos.

Just wanted to post a comment and thank everyone who voted for me and viewed my Instructable. I'm a finalist in the Epilog Challenge and I really appreciate it. Here's hoping I can win and bring you more cool projects with that Zing laser cutter.

Thank you so much. I have been dreaming of something like this for a while but have been to busy (way too lazy) to go through the trial and error myself. I look forward to building one of these soon. You definitely have my vote for most awesome in show!